


Asuma - Gold Thread

by RoeDusk



Series: Tapestry - Prologue [7]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Other, Post-Massacre
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 20:59:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11216172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoeDusk/pseuds/RoeDusk
Summary: Asuma had always been told he was lucky.  He doesn't feel it.





	Asuma - Gold Thread

Asuma is aware of how lucky he’s been, he doesn’t need anyone to inform him of that fact. The fame of his father’s position granted him a place on the genin team of the Uchiha Clan Head’s Wife. The Academy teachers made sure to assign him teammates he could work with, wanting to be sure the Hokage’s son wouldn’t be held back a year. He’s lucky the missions his team were sent on never suddenly spiked in difficulty, not even during the war. Not like Ibiki’s team losing almost all their members to bloodline hunters, or Obito dying in a cave in to save his comrades.

He’s lucky he and his team got along well enough to keep in touch, rather than growing to hate each other as some teams did. They might have their own friend groups but he knows they’ll always have his back, even to the point of giving him a couch to sleep on after yet another row with his father. He was lucky Mikoto-sensei understood why he lashed out, and would give him advice on handling Clan pressures rather than try to give him some refrain about respecting his father and apologizing. He’d been afraid she’d shut him down and argue for tradition the first time she caught him complaining. Give him a break, she was an Uchiha, how was he supposed to know they weren’t all as stuffy as his Clan?

Well, at least his father hadn’t forced him into an arranged marriage he supposed. How she’d lived knowing her future was being laid out like that he didn’t know.

But it didn’t feel like luck when people told him that he hadn’t lost most of his clan to the Kyuubi, only Mom. And he certainly didn’t feel lucky when people stopped him on the street to assure him they knew a _Sarutobi_ wouldn’t be tainted by association with the _Uchiha_. There was nothing traitorous about Mikoto-sensei, and while his teammates couldn’t afford to be too vocal about their support, Asuma was lucky his reputation and family name let him get away with telling the assholes off to their faces.

Only, he comes home from a mission - the Daimyo requested a member of the Sarutobi specifically - to find the Uchiha Clan wiped out. Suddenly everyone who had anything bad to say about them wants to stop him on the street and offer their condolences. It infuriates him, and when he learns it was _Itachi_ who did it? The 13-year-old smartalec he used to babysit on the training fields so Mikoto could have a girl’s night? He’s livid, and the next thing he knows he’s storming into his father’s office.

“How did you let an entire Clan get wiped off the map?” He demanded before the older man could say anything. “Killing that many shinobi? Even if it’s an instant kill with no combat leading up to it, would take half an hour! And that’s only counting transit time. Where was Anbu?!”

“Asuma, this is hardly the time,” His dad sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. But the younger Sarutobi continued anyway.

“My sensei and her entire clan are _dead_! Tell me why!”

The Hokage sighed again - not his father, never his father when he needed it - and steepled his fingers. “She died, they all died, because her son snapped under the pressure and murdered his whole clan in one night.”

“Itachi shouldn’t have been able to do that, not by himself with Anbu patrolling the village,” Asuma growled. “Someone would have to hold off the Anbu for _hours_ , or redirect them. Unless the Anbu helped him.”

The Hokage froze, staring at him in horror. “Anbu wouldn’t murder one of Konoha’s Clans. One of the backbones of the Village!”

“They would if one of the Elders ordered them to. The Hokage or the Council,” Asuma spat. “Regardless of their clan of origin any member of Anbu could be required to take part.”

“Asuma…” The Hokage shook his head. “I would never order a massacre. The blood purges in the Land of Water are an example Konoha will never follow.”

Asuma laughed brokenly. “And I can't even tell if you're lying anymore. There was never enough time to see you, let alone get to know you, so how can I trust you now when I think you _could_?”

The Third didn't reply, just watched his son’s face sadly. Asuma looked back for a long moment before turning and stalking out of the room. He stopped by the mission desk just long enough to tell them he was accepting the Daimyo's request, home just long enough to grab anything he couldn't leave behind, then walked back out the gate without looking back.

**Author's Note:**

> And yes, he's off to join the Damiyo's guard.


End file.
